In geology and geology related fields, stratigraphy involves the study of the layers of rock and soil that make up the subterranean landscape. In the field of oil and gas exploration, the identification of the strata of an area is especially important because possible locations of oil and gas deposits may be identified from the stratum. Furthermore, the identification of faults is particularly important for not only identifying potential locations for resources, but for safely drilling wells. In order to identify the various strata in the subterranean landscape, geologists are tasked with reviewing data in the form of well logs.
A well log is a record of the geologic formations that are penetrated by a wellbore. These well logs may then be analyzed by geologists to identify well tops, or stratigraphic contacts penetrated by the wellbore. Usually, well logs from an area such as an oil field or a portion of an oil field are displayed as a two or three-dimensional figure. The geologist starts at a well log in one well bore, identifies a well top, and identifies the corresponding well top in the same well log in other well bores. As oil fields increase in size, analyzing a three-dimensional collection of well logs with such conventional techniques becomes increasingly difficult and time consuming. Furthermore, as the number of well logs and well bores increase, the likelihood of achieving consistently accurate results decreases and different geologists may interpret the same data in a significantly different manner.
It is with these and other issues in mind that various aspects of the present disclosure were developed.